Five Times Sam Helped Adam In The Cage, And One Time He Didn't
by IsomorphicTARDIS
Summary: Sam had protected Adam all he could, down in the Cage. But obviously, you can only take someone else's centuries of punishment alongside yours for so long. So, all of the times that Sam protected Adam in the Cage, and One time Adam protected Sam. Rated because it's the Cage. Like ... Hell.
1. Chapter 1: Sight

**Y'know, I really shouldn't be starting a new story, but whatever. Basically, everyone always says Sam protected Adam in the Cage - but what about when he couldn't? R&R!**

It was not what he had expected.

I mean, yeah, it was Hell, how do you predict what it's going to look like except death, but it still wasn't what he had expected. He blinked for a few minutes, trying to see if what he was seeing was real or not.

It was a highway – no, two highways. A crossroads, in the middle of Hell. Narrowing his eyes, he turned, looking in all directions before realizing what was off.

The grass was not green.

He would have laughed, if he could, but even that wouldn't have lasted long as he realized why the grass was colored as it was. Feeling his stomach drop with each step he took closer to the stalks of grey, he knelt down by the dirt and reached out to touch the flowing grass –

But it wasn't grass.

And then, he realized, it was just like he had been taught – ignorance is bliss, but bliss is not always an result of ignorance.

Gravity seemed to reverse – though it felt like it wasn't there, anyway – and suddenly he was hanging upside down, absently wondering why he wasn't falling until the pain registered, and he looked down – up? – at his feet, feeling the bile rise from his stomach as he saw the hooks, protruding from his own skin, leaving small pieces of flesh hanging from the ends. The grass wasn't grass, they were hooks. He vaguely wondered if the flesh dropping from the edges of the hooks were his as he was hefted into a sitting position by calloused, but gentle hands.

Blinking a few times again, this time he was met with a crossroads – the same dirt crossroads, but this time … yes, he was sure of it – there was cloth around the edges, and the hooks were gone, and it took him a moment, but his brain caught up and he found that it wasn't dirt. It was skin.

Someone was holding him, cradling him in their arms, and flinching every few seconds – minutes, hours, years, time didn't really apply – and protecting him from some unknown force.

He looked up into Sam's face and smiled a thank you, relaxing marginally when he saw Sam's reassuring smile greet him back.

Adam smiled and slipped back into darkness once more.

**Well, short and choppy, I'll probably just write the whole thing and put it all back into a one-shot. I just have to write it, now. Tell me what you think with a review! R&R!**

**~IsomorphicTARDIS**


	2. Chapter 2: Smell

**And, I'm back. Unfortunately. Naw, just kidding, I love you people. So, read ahead, and I should have the next chapter up soon. And this time, soon actually means _soon_. **

**R&R!**

The next time the darkness receded, he didn't open his eyes.

Didn't or wouldn't came together and mixed, and became the same thing, but right now he didn't really care – wouldn't really care, anyway.

It smelled amazing – that was his first thought, his other thoughts a cluster of _what is that, where did I smell that, when did I smell something this good?_

It smelled like … chicken.

No, it was roasting beef, overwhelming his nose as it sizzled in the pan –

Pan? No, not a pan - then it was steak, medium rare, just like he had always preferred it …

They didn't have food in Hell.

Again, it took his brain a moment to catch up, and this time he did make retching noises as it dawned on him.

There was no food in Hell.

Something – meat, flesh, _something_ – was burning.

It wasn't food.

His stomach threatened to revolt once more, but there was nothing, no way to describe the feeling that he was experiencing, like … like … like …

Dread.

Why was he feeling dread?

And, finally, didn't and wouldn't separated, and his eyelids were heaved upward, and this time he wished he could shut them down, close them, and never open them again, because anything was better than what he was seeing now –

Sam was burning.

Every part of him was ablaze, and his mouth was open, but he wasn't making a noise – or he couldn't hear anything – but he knew he would be screaming, begging, but then Sam's jaw clicked shut, and his singed eyes opened, and he looked over at him, sending him a reassuring look, managing a weak, broken smile.

And Adam ignored everything else, sending his older half-brother a smile as he took the pain for him again.

**Hmm...Sam really seems to be taking the hits for Adam. Maybe he'll repay him. I don't know yet. Anyway, R&R! **

**~IsomorphicTARDIS**


	3. Chapter 3: Visit With A Friend

**Heh, Heh, please don't hurt me. ****_Soon_**** didn't actually turn out to be ****_soon_****, and that was my mistake. Yeah...anyway, next chapter's up, don't like it, but I'm going it though. ****_I will finish this if it is the last thing I do._**** I'll just do it faster if you guys  
R&R!**

It took him a moment to figure out the darkness was gone, and another to realize he was awake.

Adam looked around. Nothing seemed to be wrong – which, in itself, was wrong. This was Hell, after all.

He was standing at the crossroads again, but this time, it seemed to be … brighter.

He heard laughter, and reflexively flinched; but this laughter was real, genuine. It was Sam's laughter.

It wasn't until Adam figured this out that he caught sight of Sam and another figure walking through the mist towards him.

And Sam … Sam was smiling.

They both stepped close enough for Adam to see the smiles on their faces, though Adam squinted a little when he saw the other angel's form.

"Adam!" Sam waved him over, and Adam, finding his motor skills suddenly replenished, ran toward them.

"Sam –" the other angel – Cas, Adam thought his name was, looked at Sam somberly, but Sam cut him off with a forced smile and a flippant wave of his hand.

"Adam, you've met Cas. He said he might be able to get us out of here," Sam said, looking brightly back at his half-brother, who looked between angel and man, wide-eyed.

"Really? H-How? Why haven't you done it?" Adam said, caught in between shock and some odd, disfigured form of hope.

"I will have to remind you, this _is_ the Cage. It won't be easy. You will have to travel through many obstacles on a heavily trodden path. Only at the end will I be able to pull you out," Cas said, looking between the two men.

Adam's eyebrows sunk, but Sam just said without missing a beat, "Where?"

Cas looked hesitantly at Sam, then Adam, and said, "The edge of the Cage. If you do make it, I may be able to reach through and pull you out."

"Okay, so why can't you do it now?" Adam asked, hastily adding, "Not that I don't want you to do it, just … why go through the trouble if you are here now?"

Cas and Sam looked back at him, Cas' stare more curious than Sam's, whose was filled with worry.

"When you look at Lucifer and Michael, what do you see?" Cas asked, and Adam glanced toward Sam, thrown by the sudden change of subject.

"I uh, I don't know. Just … light. Really bright light. I don't open my eyes most of the time because of it," he replied hesitantly, while Cas and Sam shared a glance. "W-Why? Is it relevant? What am I supposed to see?"

"Nothing," Sam cut Cas off before he could open his mouth. His jaw snapped shut with a click, and he said, "Sam, I do not think –"

"It'll be fine, Cas. Just point the way and we'll get there as soon as we can," Sam interjected once more, freaking Adam out a bit more.

Cas nodded once and disappeared, leaving a barren, gravel road behind him. Adam shook his head, blinking away the previous image of the crossroads.

Sam glanced back at him, and they fell into step together as they walked down the road.

"So … what do you see when you look at Lucifer and Michael?" Adam asked, if not to fill the silence (which was really disconcerting – all he had heard up to this point was screams) then to satisfy his curiosity.

Sam tilted his head, probably thinking about the answer. Or whether to answer truthfully.

"I see their vessels. Except … not. I don't really know how to explain it. It's like … they're there, but they're not. Does that make sense?"

"…No. Not at all. You're just going to confuse me," Adam replied, and smiled in response to Sam's low chuckle. "Yeah, I tend to do that to people."

"Where do you think Lucifer and Michael have gone?" Adam asked, thankful for the depleting tension in the room – on the path? – in the Cage? It was too confusing, being in Hell.

Sam looked around warily, and shot Adam a look of apprehension.

"I don't know."

That's when everything went to Hell.

Literally.

**Can things go to Hell in Hell? I don't know. Whatever. Didn't like this chapter, but would love to hear your reactions, comments, suggestions, all in the R&R box below. Use it. It's like a present. You've got to put something in it and ship it to me so I can give you a pony on your birthday.**

**Take the pony bribe.**

**R&R!**

**~IsomorphicTARDIS**


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